The present invention relates to enclosures, and more particularly to enclosures for computer printers.
The tremendous advances in computer technology together with ever-increasing numbers of individuals and businesses using computers have resulted in a corresponding increase in the demand for so-called peripherals such as computer printers. Further, with the increase in demand for computer printers has come an awareness of the need to develop appropriate enclosures for printers.
Until now, computer printer enclosure technology has focused on the need to provide enclosures that absorb sound/noise produced by the printer when it prints. Various solutions have been proposed such as the printer cabinets shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,729,452 to Sims; 4,526,489 to Tsumuraya et al.; and 3,930,559 to Frick. Sims and Frick are representative of one sound-deadening approach which involves the provision of a foam lining inside the printer cabinet. Tsumuraya et al. shows another approach in which projections are provided adjacent and outside a paper-exit slot to substantially reduce sound that escapes through the slot.
Totally missing from conventional printer cabinets are proposals that deal with the problem of paper-output jams. Specifically, this problem can occur when paper, in the usual form of sheets removably attached end-to-end, is fed into and outputted from printers housed in conventional printer cabinets. Known printer cabinets are susceptible to such paper-outputting jams because they include outputting means that do not allow gravity to substantially control outputting.
Examples of such printer cabinets are shown in Sims and Tsumuraya et al. In the printer cabinets disclosed in these patents, paper is outputted from a printer in a horizontal direction and fed, while inside the cabinet, to a paper-feed slot. The slot is aligned with the printer so that paper outputted horizontally therefrom will feed into the slot. Thus, the portion of paper located between the printer and the slot is suspended therebetween. It is not until the paper passes outward of such slot that the paper is allowed to fall to the floor under gravity.
In a printer cabinet with the above design, portions of the paper outputted from a printer housed therein may move out of alignment with the paper-feed slot before reaching the same. For example, the paper suspended between the slot and printer may sag. As a result, the rate at which paper is outputted from the cabinet is slowed because the paper will bunch up inside the cabinet adjacent the paper-feed slot. If this condition goes unnoticed, the paper will eventually be prevented from exiting the printer altogether.
Alternatively, if the cabinet is positioned so that other objects are behind it and adjacent the paper-feed slot, the paper may bunch up outside the printer cabinet instead of falling to the floor under gravity.
The problem is exacerbated when there are irregularities, such as folds/creases, in the paper. These irregularities, coupled with the above-described paper-output and paper-feed slot design, make it even more likely that paperoutput jams will occur.
In either of the above situations, paper will not feed out of the cabinet as desired, and will not perform the selfstacking capability that it is designed to have in ideal, nonpaper-outputting-jam situations such as that shown in FIG. 2 of Tsumuraya et al.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printer enclosure that prevents such paper-outputting jams.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer enclosure that is usable to enclose a printer in a place other than the space on a desk or shelf, so that such space is available for storage of other office articles.